My fingers twitch as I remember how it felt to squeeze her round breasts, her hard nipples between my fingers, and I feel boiling blood rushing to my cock once more. I become hard in a matter of seconds, my shaft straining against my boxer briefs, and I sit up straight. I reach for my phone, grab it, and scroll down my contacts list until Penny’s name is on the screen.
Maybe I should call her. It’s Sunday, and she’s probably free. And Joyce’s right, I need to take a fucking break.
I’m about to press the Dial icon, my thumb hovering over it, when I stop myself. What the fuck am I doing? I’m not the kind of guy who calls a woman after fucking her. I mean, we were together Friday night, and it’s only Sunday… I’m not some fucking desperate dweeb. That’s just not my style.
Still, I need to see her.
My cock needs her, and who am I to deny my cock anything?
12
Penny
“I’m very, very disappointed with you, Penny,” my mother says, rubbing her temples. I purse my lips, staring at her image on my laptop, and then Laurel joins the chorus.
“Very disappointed, Penny,” she repeats after my mother, a small square with her picture popping up next to my mom’s. “This is not what we agreed on.”
Sunday night and here I am, sitting in front of my laptop and being grilled by my mother, the editor in the chief of the NY Daily Journal, and the New York City mayor. This is not how I expected to finish off the weekend.
“Look, I’ve just started this investigation and, besides --”
“What the hell are you talking about Penny?” my mother cuts me short and leans into her computer, her face appearing on my laptop like a bad dream. “Have you even read the article you wrote? You were supposed to destroy him, not help him build up his savior image!”
“All I tried to do was be fair and balanced, mom. That’s what a good reporter should do, right? Look for the truth?” I say, getting the words in before my mother continues with her diatribe. I can’t believe they’re this pissed with me because of the article I wrote. What were they expecting me to do? Smear Magnus just because they have a grudge against him? I’d never stoop that low. I accepted this job because I thought that, yes, Magnus needed to be knocked off his pedestal, but I never thought of achieving that by sacrificing the truth.
That’s just not me.
“The truth?” Laurel asks me before my mother can reply, her voice soothing, but not enough to hide how angry she really is. “Penny, you’re still a young woman … I know you hold all these ideals of justice and fairness, but that’s not how the real world works. And I can assure you that’s not how Magnus works either.”
“I don’t think I’m as naive as you think. I’m capable of making my own conclusions, and I stand by the article I wrote. You asked me to do this job, and I accepted it because I thought you wanted the truth… I’d never say yes if I realized this is a personal vendetta.” God, I can’t believe I’m talking to the freaking mayor like this. I really am getting more and more pissed off by the minute.
“Magnus is playing the whole city, and now he has played you as well,” Laurel tells me, and this time there’s nothing soothing about her voice. She’s a Trask alright; I can imagine her dominating a conference table full of politicians and billionaires with just a few words.
“How can you say he’s playing the whole city? I might not know much about him yet, but don’t you think you’re jumping the gun?”
“Penny, dear,” my mother jumps back into the conversation, perhaps feeling the tension rising between Laurel and I. “If there’s anyone in here qualified to talk about Magnus, that’s me… And listen to me when I tell you, he’s not what he seems. That man doesn’t care about anyone or anything, and you’d do well to keep that in mind.”
I take her words silently, trying to reconcile the image of Magnus I hold in my mind. Are they right? Is Magnus playing me, and the whole city? From what I’ve ever heard about him, that’d make sense … But after having dinner with him, after sharing a night with him, I find it hard to believe we’re talking about the same man.
“I’ll keep that in mind,” I tell them both coldly, the words coming out of my mouth harsher than I expected. “But I won’t lie about him without a valid reason.”
“No one in here is asking you to lie, Penny,” Laurel says, and something in the way she pronounces her words sets me off.
“It sure seems like it. Because I’m doing my job and duty as a journalist, and all the two of you seem to care about is how much dirt I can sling at Magnus!” By the time I finish speaking, I realize that I’m leaning so much into my laptop that my nose is almost touching the webcam. My hands are balled into fists, and I’m breathing hard already.
“Watch your tone, young lady,” Laurel whispers, her eyes cold and shark-like. “We’ve given you a chance to play in the big leagues. You’d do well to pay attention and do your job like you were instructed or --”
“I was instructed to be a reporter, not your errand girl,” I say into the phone. “Sorry if that goes against your plans.”
“It’s not just me you’re crossing, little girl,” Laurel hisses and it strikes me as odd that when I hear the words ‘little girl’ from her it makes me shiver as opposed to when I hear it from Magnus.
“There are some powerful people who are funding my campaign for Governor that want Magnus out. They won’t be happy till he’s out. And they won’t be happy when some little girl from the Upper East Side decides to say no to them,” she finished.
“Or what? There’s only one way to do my job, and that way is the right way.” I hiss through my gritted teeth and, without waiting for a reply from either Laurel or my mother, I slam down my laptop’s lid.
I take a few deep breaths, staring down at my laptop as if it could explode at any minute, and then I let the realization of what I just did start to sink in. I just hung up on my mother and on the mayor. Jesus, what has gotten into me? I’m not the kind of girl that gets all worked up for nothing. But I guess this whole situation doesn’t fit the nothing category, huh?
I know what you’re thinking. I’ve just went on and on about my job and duty as a journalist, and I did all that after fucking the man I’m supposed to be investigating. If you think that makes me a hypocrite, well… There’s nothing I can do about that, is there? But I hope that, at the very least, you make an effort to understand.